New Tech In Basketball May Give Teams More Of An Edge

SportsMoney
I do Q&A's with pro athletes and cover sports, sports business

The Cleveland Cavaliers' LeBron James and the Boston Celtics' Marcus Morris on May 13. (Photo by Jim Davis/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)

Data has been around almost as long as humans have. But ever since the emergence of the 2003 Michael Lewis book Moneyball, observers of sports have sought out more ways to use data to win more games. Meanwhile, as conventional sports wisdom may point to players and coach watching and re-watching the tape, technology offers advantages.

One firm, in particular, founded by a pair of hoops aficionados from Kansas, hopes to take basketball to a whole new level. Overland Park-based ShotTracker was founded by basketball and technology experts Davyeon Ross and Bruce Ianni, and they describe their platform as a sensor-based system that captures stats and performance analytics for an entire team in real time.

“There are significant changes happening in sports," Ross said, explaining also that technology today is "poised to capitalize on those changes with real-time data.”

ShotTracker's founders call it an easy-to-use system that is put together in two parts. First, electronic sensors installed up in a facility's rafters can map a basketball court in 3D. Meanwhile, as a game or practice is in progress, ShotTracker gathers up data by following the real-time movement of both the ball and players fitted with lightweight sensors.

The firm says that its technology can specifically enable coaches to make adjustments based on any game-in-progress data, doing so during half-time or on the fly. In addition to that, coaches and players receive game and practice summaries and reports, giving them direct access to the intel and data that can be used to improve the form of both individual players and the team.

For example, technology like this can help coaches recognize areas of the floor where the team is shooting successfully and where it is not. Likewise, a team can pinpoint when it's getting beat in the low post, on the perimeter, or in transition. So far, ShotTracker has been piloted and used by theNational Association of Intercollegiate Athletics and was used in the NAIA Men’s Basketball Championships for the last two years. And, as the game continues to get more competitive, it is likely that both basketball teams in the U.S. and abroad will look for different ways to use data collection to improve game strategy.

Getting a financial boost from some big names in B-ball also doesn't hurt. During their initial rounds of funding, ShotTracker has brought on both Basketball Hall of Famer Earvin “Magic” Johnson, and longtime NBA commissioner David Stern as investors. Also involved in the initial $21 million funding are venture capital firms as Greycroft, Elysian Ventures, KC Rise Fund, Irish Angels, as well as SeventySix Capital and their well-known partner, longtime Phillies slugger Ryan Howard.

During a call this week introducing the tech venture to new investors, Stern talked about basketball setting its sights on the future.

"ShotTracker is destined to revolutionize our game by delivering real-time stats and meaningful analytics in arenas and practice facilities across the globe." Stern also said that by accessing rich content and insights, coaching staff and players will have revolutionary new tools to differentiate their game."

A video explains how sensor technology works for both ShotTracker and a broadcast app called Court Caster.

But this new sports tech isn't just something that hoops fans are psyched about. Howard, the two-time National League home run leader and three-time RBI leader, is pumped that basketball is poised to use data the way that many Major League Baseball teams have.

"For the last 15 years, baseball has been revolutionized as most of the Major League clubs (have) harnessed the power of data and analytics." Ryan also calls the development "inspiring and exciting."